Posted!

Join the Conversation

Comments

Welcome to our new and improved comments, which are for subscribers only.
This is a test to see whether we can improve the experience for you.
You do not need a Facebook profile to participate.

You will need to register before adding a comment.
Typed comments will be lost if you are not logged in.

Please be polite.
It's OK to disagree with someone's ideas, but personal attacks, insults, threats, hate speech, advocating violence and other violations can result in a ban.
If you see comments in violation of our community guidelines, please report them.

6 things you didn't know about Hunter S. Thompson's life in Louisville

Each year around Kentucky Derby time, Louisville returns to the no-holds-barred comic essay, "The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved," by Gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson.

But what people may not realize is that first-person narrative was written by a Louisville native — which is perhaps why the essay maintains its relevance nearly 50 years later.

Now, Thompson is being remembered around the city during the Year of Gonzo, with exhibits at the Speed Art Museum, 2035 S. 3rd St., and Frazier History Museum, 829 W. Main St., among other events, including the ninth annual Gonzofest held earlier this year at the Louisville Free Public Library, 301 York St., and a special poster signing by artist Ralph Steadman at the Kentucky Derby. Steadman, a famous artist in his own right, is perhaps best known as the artist who inked Thompson's stories to life with his recognizable "splatter" style.

So in honor of the "Year of Gonzo," here are six things you might not know about the famous writer.

He loved the Louisville Free Public Library

Thompson's mother, Virginia, worked as the head librarian of the Louisville Free Public Library. The branch on York street became Thompson's first library, which is now where Gonzofest, a literary festival honoring the work of Thompson, has been held for the past three years.

Thompson became a "voracious reader" after spending so much time in the library, said Penny Peavler, the president and CEO of the Frazier History Museum, which currently houses "Freak Power," an exhibit based on Thompson's 1970 campaign for sheriff in Aspen, Colorado.

In Louisville's library, Thompson read about journalism and began pursuing it. He then went on to change it forever, Peavler said.

"This is not something that happened to him," Peavler said. "It was something that was building in him."

In high school, Thompson became a member of the Athenaeum Literary Association, a literary and social club, where he would write articles and help produce the club's yearbook, the Spectator.

He was arrested — and left Louisville

In 1955, Thompson's senior year of high school, he was charged as an accessory to robbery and served 31 days in the Jefferson County Jail. Because of this, he missed his final examinations and wasn't allowed to graduate.

Thompson's childhood was always split between his literary side and his "juvenile delinquent side," said Rory Feehan, a Thompson scholar.

"These two competing sides really shaped Hunter Thompson," Feehan said. "Of course, inevitably, one side got him into a whole heap of trouble. That incident where he was arrested ... is probably the most formative episode of his career — his life. It really is. That left such a mark on his psyche."

Interested in this topic? You may also want to view these photo galleries:

Thompson returned to his hometown well into his career to cover the 1970 Kentucky Derby. What he produced, "The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved," would become the first piece dubbed as "Gonzo journalism."

The essay has multiple references to Louisville being Thompson's home, referencing old friends, prior attachments and how he'd gone to the Kentucky Derby numerous times when he lived in the city.

"Just keep in mind for the next few days that we're in Louisville, Kentucky," Thompson told friend and collaborator Steadman in the essay. "Not London. Not even New York. This is a weird place."

He's a Kentucky Colonel

In December 1996, poet Ron Whitehead produced a tribute event to honor Thompson's work. There, Thompson was named a Kentucky Colonel, a title that recognizes achievements and service to the community, state and nation, according to its website.

Thompson would only accept the title if actor Johnny Depp, his friend who played him in 1998's "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" and again in 2011's "The Rum Diary," received the title as well. Depp was born in Owensboro.

The pair's Kentucky roots contributed to their bond. Feehan said Thompson was able to trust Depp because they were from the same "neck of the woods."

After they received the titles, Thompson insisted on referring to Depp only as "Colonel Depp," Feehan said.

"He wouldn’t do that kind of thing if he didn’t want to be associated with the culture here, so he was proud of it. He had issues with it, but he was proud of it," Feehan said.

'A Southern gentleman'

Feehan said an aspect of Thompson's character that people don't always realize is his Kentucky roots as a "southern gentleman." Though Thompson had issues with Louisville because of the arrest during his youth, it was still his home.

"If Hunter hated Louisville, he wouldn’t be constantly bringing that back up — the fact that he’s from Kentucky," Feehan said. "He’s a hillbilly from Kentucky. You know he loved all that. ... (There were) things here that he disliked, but he was proud to be from Kentucky without question."

Reach Laurel Deppen at ldeppen@gannett.com or follow her on Twitter at @laurel_deppen.